Refrigerator-car.



W. B. HALL. REFRIGERATOR CAR.

7 I I APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2. IBIS;

Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

2 SHEETSQSHEEI I.

W..B. HALL REFRIGERATOR CAR. v ,MPLICATIQN EILED NOV-'2. was.

2 SHEETSSHEE 2.

Patented Jan. 7,1919.

UNITED sTAT s ornron.

WILLIAM B. HALL, or cmcneo, rnnmorsnssrenon r0 UNION RAILWAY no'iurmnnr no, 'A coarona'rron or rumors.

nnrnrennn'roncnnj .PatentedJan. '7, 1919.

Application fileli November 2. 1915. Serial No; 59.202.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM B. 'HALL, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Chicago,- county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Refrigerator-Cars, of which the following is a. specification and which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof;

The invention relates to refrigerator cars and more particularly-tothose in which the refrigeration of the-lading is accompanied important by the use of ice and salt. ,Such cars are commonly provided with tanks for coiitaining the refrigerating mixture and while-pro vision is to be made for the discharge of the brine from time to time, it is desirable that the brine shall be confined 'while the car is en route, as its discharge upon the right of wa staiices the drainage of the tanks is preferably to be. accom lished only in connection with the icing of the cars. It is therefore that provisionfbe made for discharging the brine as rapidly as possible and that the meansprovided therefor should be easily operable to provide a free discharge when open and a tight seal when closed.

Difficulty has heretofore been'experienced in this respect owing to the formation of "frost upon the outside of the operative parts and the acclunulat-ion of sediment within the tanks and passages. The object of the invening valve for brine tank refrigerator cars which shall be operable with certainty under all conditions and not subject to injury or deterioration in service.

. wallsof the tanks shown in section In the accompanying drawings, 7, Figure 1 1S adetall plan view of arethe features of hatchway cover and the plu for closing the filling opening to one pair 0 tanks being removed. I

Fig. 2 IS a sectional view taken on the hue 2-2 of Fig. 1, the tanks being shown partly in elevation.

Fig. '3 is similar to a shows a modified form of construction.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sidevi'ew of the valve with the adjacent arts of the Side an Fig. 5 shows the valve and its operating the; plane indicated by the line -14, and the operating means-being shown in may is to be avoided. Under these circum-' tops of tion is accordingly to' providea quick 0pendetail of Fig. 2, but

means, the valve being shown in section on elevation.-

The brine tanks, as 10,11, 12 and 13 may be arranged in the end of the car as usual. A detail of the car roof isshown at 14, the

5+5 on Fig.

. side walls of the car at 15, 16 and its floor at 17. All of the tanks at one'end of the generally designated '18. This hatchway have a central partition 19 and the car communicate with the usualhatchway,

tanks arepreferablyarranged in pairs lof cated upon opposite sides of thepartition,

the filling of the two tanks, as 10, 11 and 12, 13 of eachjpair being accomplished upon the removal of a plug as 20, which fits the corresponding part of the hatchway opening.

The. tanks are supported from below by resting upon a "car,-'a' short distance above the floor. 17. The,

the tanks fit the hatchway opening and are additionally supported bypartition skeleton frame 21 which 8X tends between theside walls 15,16, of the beams 39, one of which extends across the opening between thetwo-tanks of each pair. In the arrangement'illustrated'in Figs. 1,

2, 4 and 5, the discharge of brine from. the

two tanks 10,11 and 12, 13' of eachpair is through a connecting pipe or union 22. This 11111011 may be located in any desired 'position with reference to the height of: the tanks but is preferably positioned to extend beftween the adjacent side walls, as 23., 24, ofthe tanks a short distance above the support ing.frame'21. In this form of construction,

each union 22 communicates directly with the interior'of both tanks, as 10, 11, ofthe corresponding pairand is firmly supported by each of said tanks. As shown the union 22 is'pro'videdwith threadedends 25 and 26 which project through openings in the" side walls 23 and 24, respectively, and clampas 27, are applied to the threaded ing nuts,

ends 251 and26 from the inside of the tanks to cooperate with flanges, as-33, which are side walls upon the outsideopening preferably faces downwardly between the adjacent tanksand is controlled by .100 formed upon the union to abut against said a swinging valve plate 2'8.' 'Toi'nsure against leakage. when the valve plate- 28 is raised;

I is formed with a pair of bracket lugs 34 between which an. arbor 35 is integrally extended for engagement with said hook 32.

Thefree end of the valve plate 28 is pivotally connected with a yoke 36. The arms of this yoke straddle the union 22 and the upper end of the yoke. is attached to a valve rod 37, which extends upwardly therefrom between the tanks. as 10. 11, and through a slotted opening 38 in the beam 39, for connection with an operating lever 40, as at 42. The lever 40 is p'eferably so mounted uponthe beam 39 as not to project over the tank, as 10 or 11, at either side of the partition to interfere with the icing. It may also serve to prevent the application of the plug 20, when the valve plate 28 is lowered. hen so arranged, the raising of'the valve plate'before the car is permitted to proceed from the icing station is insured, As shown, an apertured bracket plate 41 is mounted upon the beam 39 to surround the slotted opening 38. This bracket plate carries the lever 40, the pivotalconnection, as 43, of the lever with the plate being transverse to the beam 39 for causing the lever to swing in a plane which is parallel with the length of the beam. Preferably the relative arrangement of the points of pivotal connection, as 42 and 43 ofthe lever 40 with the valve rod 37 and -with the bracket plate 41 is such that the parts form a toggle for the lifting of the valve plate 28 against the gasket 30 upon the, swinging of the lever to the horizontal position illustrated in Fig. 5. The valve plate 28 is thereby forcibly held to its seat and the lever 40 is so positioned as to permit the insertion, of the plug 20. On the other hand, the lever 40, occupies the upright position illustrated at'the left hand side of Fig. 2 when the valve plate'28 is lowered to permit the drainage of the tanks through the opening 29.

In the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 3, all of the tanks, as 44, 45, 46 and 47 at one end of the car are connected for drainage through a single union 48 which is in direct communication with the interior of only one of the tanks, as 44. As shown, each two adjacenttanks are connected at the bottom by a section of hose 49. The parts may be constructed otherwise exactly as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5, except that the union 48 is provided with a flange 51 at one end which is riveted a gainsi the side wall of the adjacent tank. as without communicating with the interior of said tank. In either form of construction a free discharge of the brine is provided when the valve plate, as 2* is lowered. and this valve plate may be quickly moved between the open and closed posit ions while the operation is not likely to be interfered with by corrosion or accumulatioi'is of frost or sediment.

I claim as my invention,-

1. In combination, a car body having an opening in its roof, a horizontal partition beam extending across such opening, a pair of upright tanks located side by side within the car body. the tops of the tanks communicating with the roof opening at opposite sides of the said beam, a pipe supported by and connecting the two tanks below the beam, such pipe having a downwardly facing opening intermediate its ends, a lever pivotally mounted upon the upper side of the beam to swing in a vertical plane which is parallel with the length of the beam, a vertically movable valve plate controlling the said opening in the pipe, and connection between the valve plate and the lever.

2. In combination, a car body having an opening in its roof, a horizontal partition beam extending across such opening, a pair of upright tanks located side by side within the car body. the tops of the tanks communicating with the roof opening at opposite sides of the said beam, a pipe having its opposite ends secured against the adjacent side walls of the two tanks below the beam, the said side wall of one of the tanks being apertured in line with the said pipe and the said pipe being provided with a downwardly facing discharge opening between the tanks,

a valve plate hinged to the wall of the pipe at one side of its said discharge opening, a yoke straddling the pipe and having its lower endpivotally connected with the free edge of the said valve plate, a lever pivotally mounted upon the upper side of the said beam to swing in a vertical'plane which is parallel with the length of the beam, and a rod extending between the yoke and the lever, the point of connection of the' rod with the lever being so disposed with reference to the lever pivot that the lever occupies a horizontal position upon the beam when the valve plate is raised to close the dis- I charge opening in the said pipe and in upof the tank below the roof and an operating rod extending between the drain cock and the lever.

4. In combination, a car body having an opening in its roof and a cover for such opening, a tank located below the opening 1 and havmg a valve-controlled drain outlet,

a lBVBItfOf controlling the valve of the outlet, such lever being pivoted within the opendownwardly thereinto in closing the valve.

WILLIAM B. HALL. y 

